Lucy In The Sky
by TusDein
Summary: Luciana Black always thought she knew herself and her parents well. Cue in Remus Lupin, James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black and his family. RLOC
1. Life

It was the beginning of a school year. The taste of summer was beginning to fade as the early winds of fall was coming into their midst. It was a cold day in Scotland on the first of September. But to a young Lucy, it was the perfect day.

She walked through the platform of 9 and ¾; an excited young witch beginning her life, rather official life, in the wizarding world.

"You excited, Lucy?" her mother asked as they stood looking up at the shining steam train.

"Of course" the young girl the replied

The girl nodded blankly, not looking to see her reaction. Excited was an understatement for Lucy, she was elated to say the least. Being kept in a home with only one wizarding parent had been a tad more difficult than what many would assume, considering her mother was much more a fan of doing things the old fashioned way, rather than with a wand and an incantation.

"Are you scared?" her mother asked, squatting to her level to look up to Lucy's dark eyes. The eleven year old looked down at her mother, the woman with a warm smile on her face. Looking between mother and daughter, the resemblance was so few and far between. Platinum blonde hair, bright green eyes, and such delicate features lined her mother's angelic head. Lucy had dark, dark hair with equally dark eyes and a feminine yet more structured look, all of which she had inherited from her father's genetic lineage.

"No," she replied, breathing in deeply and taking a glance at the giant red train filled with new and magical people.

Her mother laughed; the sound of ringing bells the closest thing she could describe it as. "It's okay to be scared, darling, we'll all be scared one time or another," her mother said, taking hold of both her arms. Her mother clasped Lucy's hand in hers, still looking up at her daughter, "whenever you're scared just think of me and your father."

Lucy looked intently at her mother again, the fear she couldn't say making her as stoic as her imposing father was. She heard the sounds of the steam train's horn, the bellow reverberating inside King's Cross Station. The two women looked to the train, the older letting go of her daughter's hands.

"I suppose it's time you leave," she said, taking her daughter in her arms. Lucy just stared at the train, inhaling the sweet smell of her mother. _Strawberries and cupcakes,_ she thought, closing her eyes as the smell flitted through her nostrils, "go on ahead now, dear. Your father and I will miss you."

Lucy lifted the bag on her shoulder, breathing deeply as she made her way to the train's entrance. As she neared the line of students boarding, she looked back to her mother who was waiting until she had entered the train. Like every day of every year until she was ten and when Lucy went to a Muggle school.

Turning back, Lucy ran to her mother, wrapping her arms around the older woman's waist. Her mother smiled fondly and looked down at her daughter; she wrapped her arms around the young girl's shoulders. "It'll be alright, sweetheart," she whispered, running her hand through the tearful girl's hair.

Lucy looked up to her mother, thumbs brushing the escaped tears away. She was terrified but she was grateful that her mother needed no words to describe what she was feeling. "I might not understand fully what you're going through, but this is just the same as when you went to Muggle School. You'll do fabulously, my love. And no matter what you do there, your father and I will be incredibly proud of you."

That was all Lucy needed. A pick me up from her mother. Lucy nodded and gave her mother one last hug. It would be the last she'd see of her till the Holidays and maybe even then, she might not be seeing them. Running back to the line with one last look to her mother, Lucy bordered the train.

Sirius stood placid in front of his mother and father, scowls gracing their normally emotionless faces. They looked disgustedly around the station, taking in the various witches, wizards, and muggle parents that flooded the already crowded station.

Mr. and Mrs. Black turned their attention to a woman of their age: blonde hair and bright eyes, a disgusting aura of _Muggle_ emanating from her entire being. Their scowl thickened at the sight of her and her spawn.

They turned to look down at their eldest son, the father speaking first, "now, we better not hear about any of your actions tainting the Black name. No son of mine will ever associate with the likes of mudbloods and traitors, and would we hear one word of your treachery, be sure that once you are home you will receive dire punishment."

Sirius made no attempt to respond and took to staring at his petrified feet. Mr. Black looked to his silent son, his grimace deepening and making his face look far more menacing than before, "do I make myself clear?" he asked.

"Yes, sir," Sirius replied, still not looking at his father's eyes.

"Pick up your bag and get on the train, Sirius. We will see you next summer," his mother said finally, eyes not leaving the woman way across the station. Sirius followed her gaze and studied the source of his mother's discomfort.

A woman stood ways away from the Black family, tall and bright wearing Muggle clothes. She had a girl of his age in her arms, the young girl giving a hug to her mother, both seemed rather sad from where Sirius was standing.

"Don't stare at Muggles, Sirius. They are not fit for our eyes," his mother said, taking hold of his shoulder to usher him to the entrance.

"Goodbye mother, father," Sirius said, waiting patiently for even a remote amount of care and warmth like what that woman had given her child. But his mother and father just nodded curtly, turning briskly to leave the _infected _station.

Lucy clambered up the train, walking unsurely through the hall to find an empty cabin for herself. So far, she had no such luck, seeing most of the cabins close to the entrances already packed with returning students.

As she reached her eleventh cabin, another boy came her way and looked inside. "Sorry, this is yours I suppose," the rather shy young boy said at first, looking down at his shoes once he met her dark eyes.

Lucy seemed unsure at first but thought this would be a good chance as any to start making friends, "we can share it, if you want, I mean," she said, trying to sound sure of herself but seemingly failing miserably at it.

The boy looked up at her and gave a shy smile, moving out of the way for her to enter the cabin. She moved inside and sat by a window, watching as the scenery began to change swiftly as they moved through the land. It would be a while until they reached Scotland, so she thought it was ample time to get to know the boy in front of her.

"My names Remus Lupin, you are?" he asked, seeming to warm up to the girl he just met.

"Lucy Black," she replied, giving a smile to him, "this is my first year in Hogwarts."

"Same here," he replied, "what do you suppose Hogwarts is like?"

She looked to him and read his face, he seemed entirely enthralled at knowing what Hogwarts would be like, or for vanity's sake, what she thought Hogwarts would be like. "My father said it was a grand time back in his day, but I'm not sure if to believe him or not. He doesn't talk much about his days in Hogwarts." Remus looked to her, watching as a sad glance went to the moving forests outside.

"My father never talked much to me about Hogwarts either, he was always too busy working to ever have much time for me," he replied, giving a soft smile that seemed to tell her she wasn't the only one.

But sadly enough, she really could've been the only one. Her father was always there, occasionally leaving for his job at the Ministry and disappearing for an extensive amount of time whenever he had a job to go to. Most of the time, he was at their home on the outskirts of Liverpool where an extensive piece of land belonged to him with a quaint cottage set safely a few ways of the only paved road which housed him and his family.

"Do you know anyone at Hogwarts?" he asked curiously again, bringing Lucy back down from the sky.

She looked at him unsurely, wondering if it was alright to continue talking to this boy. But he was being her only friend at that moment, and she wasn't willing to scare him off. "No, I didn't know any wizarding children growing up; it was usually just me and my parents and our dog at home," she replied, looking to Remus.

"Really? Are both your parents magical?" he asked, leaning back in his own seat and finally comfortable with her presence.

"No, just my father," she replied, "how about yours? Are your parents wizards?"

"Just my father as well. My mother's a muggle," he replied, "Do you have any siblings going to Hogwarts?"

Lucy turned away from the scenery passing by, giving Remus her full attention once more, "no, I'm an only child. So I don't know anyone."

Remus nodded and felt like he had no more to say to his companion. Lucy turned back again to the window, asking him the same question he had asked her, "how about you? Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

Remus shook his head, "only child as well, unfortunately."

Lucy looked to him again and smiled, "kind of sad isn't it? It got sort of lonely when my parents were never home. My father would usually be home, but often times he had to leave for work. My mother would volunteer at the Muggle village nearby, so often times I'm left to myself if my mother doesn't bring me with her."

Remus nodded, agreeing with Lucy. He did have the fortune of always having his mother be home while his father went to work, but it still was never the same as having other children to play with.

"I couldn't even play with Muggle children because bad things happened when they agitated me," she said sadly, thinking to the times when rocks just started flying when bullies began to pick on her and pull her pigtails.

"My father forbade me from playing with them, in case I hurt one by accident," he replied and Lucy was sort of glad that there was someone else that felt the same way she did. Maybe there would be more people like him at Hogwarts, and it was a hopeful thought.


	2. Sorting And Then Some

Standing beside Remus in front of two large doors, Lucy was frightened at the thought of sorting. Would she be placed into Slytherin? The house of horrid people like what her father had told her? Or maybe Hufflepuff, which her father seemed to laugh at heartily whenever he mentioned the house?

She looked to the large hourglasses filled with crystals, red, green, blue, and yellow. House emblems lined the base of each, a snake, a lion, a bird, and a badger. What they were for, Lucy didn't know, but they were pretty and provided her enough distraction from the impending sorting.

The double doors opened slowly, a booming voice reverberating within the grand hall. Floating candles littered the ceiling depicting a magical image of the night sky. Rows and rows of large tables took up most of the room, another taking up the front where sat old witches and wizards smiling fondly at the newcomers.

"Now, we begin the sorting!" the old man on the podium announced, giving leave to another woman much younger than he yet with as much grace. The woman stood proudly by the podium, donning dark green robes with a large witch hat.

Lucy stood to the side like the rest of them, nervous to the point that she might have become sick. "Ampen, Georg," the woman announced, a boy from their flock walking unsmiling towards a stool where sat a beaten and battered hat.

Lucy gasped as the hat spoke, the wizarding world never ceasing to amaze her at every turn of the clock. It spoke a few whiles and announced quite loudly, "RAVENCLAW!"

A table from the ranks broke into roaring cheers as the new addition made his way to the table, a smile on his once nervous face.

Lucy looked to the rest of the first years with her, seeing them all looking less nervous than what she supposed she looked. A couple more students made their way to the hat, being sorted as the hall echoed loudly with pubescent cheers.

"Black, Lucy." The woman announced.

Lucy felt a nudge at her side, Remus looking down at her with a comforting smile. "She called you," he whispered, eyes moving to point at the witch and the Sorting hat. Lucy took a deep breath, casting a glance at Remus before making her way to the stool.

She sat there in front of the entire population of the school, all staring and wondering where little Miss Lucy Black would be placed. She felt a weight placed suddenly on her head, a voice speaking to her in her mind no doubt.

"_A Black again I see," _the hat muttered, humming to itself, _"where to put you, where to put you. Slytherin would be an option; after all, you Blacks have a history of being in Slytherin._"

Lucy wondered what he had meant by that remark, her father surely couldn't have been a black and she certainly had no cousins she knew of from his side. The hat chuckled softly, _"naïve of your lineage, I see. Courageous, biting wit, I sense great ability from you, child. Decisions, decisions…you'll just have to be…"_

"GRYFFINDOR!" the hat bellowed, causing a table to erupt in thunderous cheer. They shouted and screamed as their first addition came to them, a small smile on her face as upperclassmen patted her in the back as a congratulations.

"Welcome to Gryffindor!" one said, smiling down at the little girl. She smiled back at the rest of them, finally turning to the sorting as another Black came to sit.

The raven haired boy matched closely to her own crop, same dark eyes yet with a brooding air of superiority about him. She wondered if he was one of the other Blacks that the hat had mentioned during her sorting, but it seemed unlikely as she had no cousins of her own. Her father and mother were only children if she recalled correctly.

But another loud cheer from Gryffindor broke her from her thoughts as the raven haired boy sat across from her on the table. She felt his gaze lingering intensely on her, one which she tried rather hard to ignore. Turning finally to the boy, Lucy mustered up her courage, "hi, I'm Lucy Black," she said, giving a shy smile at the boy.

The other Black sneered at her, crossing his arms as he turned to watch the sorting once more. Remus had been sorted into Gryffindor as well, sitting beside a girl named Lily Evans. Lucy managed to talk quite well to Lucy Evans, forgetting for a brief moment her other friend who sat a person away.

She felt the glare of the boy again, but to save her from further embarrassment, she ignored it once again. Once the sorting was complete and the feast much the same, the group made their way to where they would be housed for the next seven years.

Lucy tried to remain as far from the boy as she could, opting to stick with Lily and Remus as much as she could. She wondered if she should ask them why that boy Sirius was still looking, rather, _glaring_ at her, but thought against it in fear they'd say that she was merely over-reacting.

Upon the next day, classes began quite joyfully for the First Years, the Gryffindors having a subject called Charms together with some Hufflepuffs. That same morning, Lucy had received a letter from her father, the boy Sirius receiving a red envelope which was not foreign to Lucy, as a Howler. Sirius had run quickly outside the hall, choosing to open the letter where fewer could hear the screaming taunts of his mother dearest.

Lucy looked to where the screaming was but thought nothing more of it as she read the letter her father had sent.

"_Luciana,_

_Congratulations in being placed into Gryffindor. As for whether you had any cousins you did not know about, I'm sure you know well enough that there are none._

_Your mother sends her love. _

_Lucien."_

It was a typical letter from her father, a straight to the point message written in his graceful pointed long hand. It was foolish of her to expect anything more of an emotion than pleased with her father's letter; he was never much of an emotional man, after all.

Pulling her mind away from the memory, she focused on Charms as their miniscule professor began to teach a levitation charm to them. She had no cousins, as what her father said, and she would believe him on the basis that it was her father who said it.

Lucy managed to levitate her feather; alongside Lily Evans who and both rewarded ten points to their house as being the only ones who had managed to do it in class. This success was received with a scowl form Sirius Black as he had only managed to make his little feather twitch for a moment. Maybe this wouldn't be as promising as year as she had hoped.

Lucy came to finish her first day, finding herself in the Common Room and choosing to avoid dinner for the sheer reason that she wasn't that hungry. She had met the rest of the Gryffindor first years during the day, being partnered to a James Potter for Potions and a stumbling Peter Pettigrew had accidentally thrown a hex down her way during Defense against the Dark Arts.

Lucy didn't understand why the Slytherin first years seemed to hate her so, but an upper class man named Artie Weasley explained how Gryffindors and Slytherins were the main opposing houses in Hogwarts. Though it explained much of their disdain, why two older girls seemed to hate her so was still a mystery.

"Oh," a voiced said from behind her, making her jump in surprise.

She muttered an 'ow' under her breath as she rubbed her elbow that had hit the table hard. Waiting for the tingling pain to dispense, Lucy turned to see the cause of her embarrassing mishap, maybe not bringing out the insufferable temper she inherited from her father but still giving a lecture like what she had gotten from her mother.

Standing by the staircase leading up to the boys' dorm rooms, Sirius Black stood there with all his haughty glory. "Hmph," he hummed, moving to retreat back to the boys' room, but Lucy had been bothered enough by his rude demeanour.

"What the bloody hell is your problem?" she said, the fire of the Lucien Black temper she had inherited refusing to be extinguished any longer.

Sirius Black turned back to her, an eyebrow raised and a scowl gracing his face, "you are," he replied daringly, glaring at the girl.

"Why? What did I ever do to you?" she asked, getting up from her seat on the floor. In her hand, she gripped her quill tightly, the feather trembling at the pressure.

"You mean you don't know me?" he asked, looking amused for once since Lucy had seen him at dinner a night ago. He stepped closer to her, his daring intensifying at the challenge that Lucy was presenting.

"Should I?" she asked, crossing her arms in distaste.

"I assure you that you should, after all, I am your cousin on your father's side," he said, grinning at the shocked look on her face.

Lucy was taken back at the response, not comprehending what he had just said. _Cousin?_ She had no cousins. Her father said she had no cousins. Even her mother said she had no cousins. But now this boy, this insufferable little boy dared to contradict the word of her own father?

"I have no cousins," she spat at him, daring for him to continue.

"Is that what he said?" he replied incredulously, "I suppose that's what your blood-traitor father really would say considering the family had disowned him." Sirius was enjoying the look of astonishment on the girl's face, and Lucy knew that.

"Your father was once the head patriarch of the Black family after my grandfather and his brothers had died, but then he decided to go mad and marry that Muggle mother of yours," he sneered, laughing as though he had made a jest.

"What? Can't speak? I'm not surprised. If I found out that my father was a dishonoured blood-traitor and I, his spawn, surmounting to nothing more than a mudblood, well, I'd probably go and off myself the muggle way, since you'd probably end up no better than that Muggle whore mother of yours," he taunted, doing more harm possibly to him than to her.

Lucy was conflicted, hearing the news which she greatly did not expect. This was a lie, it had to be, her father would never hide such an important thing from her, and of course he wouldn't. Looking at Sirus' smirk, her rage flared inside of her. That last bit of jest had pulled her from what little control she ever had.

With a quick reflex, her wand was drawn, "_Stupefy!"_ she shouted, a jet of lights erupting forth from her wand. Sirius was thrown back hard into the far wall of the staircase, his body ricocheting off it and rolling down the steps. He groaned in pain as his blurred eyes tried to take in the situation, he had pushed her he knew, but she deserved it as much for being who she was: a half-blood, a smudge on the superior race that were wizards.

Lucy raced up the stairs, slamming the door shut as she dived for her bed. Tears were falling freely from her, the emotion that had built up inside of her breaking as she cast the defensive spell on the stupid git that was Sirius Black.

Her cousin, one made from partly the same flesh and blood. And she couldn't stand the thought of being related to him or any one of his family.

She cried herself to sleep that night, ignoring the calls of Lily and shouts downstairs as students filed in from dinner. Lucy was just too tired, far too tired to deal with any of the trouble she had caused. Consequences would catch up to her, but consequences could wait until tomorrow.


	3. Meeting Lucien

Second day to the start of classes and already she was called to her Head of House's office. Lucy stood in front of Professor McGonagall's table at seven in the morning, looking far from remorseful for what she had done the night before.

She stood there with a stoic look on her face, and McGonagall could have sworn she saw Lucien Black clearly on her face. Clearing her throat and dispelling all further thoughts of the debonair man, McGonagall began to speak.

"That was disgraceful stunt you had pulled last night, Ms. Black. And on your cousin, no less," McGonagall began to say and Lucy muttered a reply under her breath.

"What was that, Ms. Black?" McGonagall asked sternly, eyeing the young girl.

"I have no cousin, Professor McGonagall," she replied, looking up with the same dark eyes that had been unique of the Black family name. Dark, almost black, eyes that failed to ever back down from anything they had seriously set their minds to. And McGonagall had once again been force to remember the girl's father.

"Be that as it may, you will serve detention for a week! And your parents will be notified of this violent attack you had pulled on your fellow student," McGonagall dictated sternly, "it is one thing to be in a fight, Ms. Black, and another when one had caused another a minor concussion in the process."

Lucy stood with her back straight, hands behind her, and a thin-lipped frown on her otherwise placid face. She nodded solemnly; taking the punishment like her father had taught her. _If you cannot accept the consequences, then do nothing to merit them_, he had instructed her ever since she was a child.

McGonagall dismissed her, watching curiously as the girl bowed respectfully and turned to leave the room. She had no arguments, no injections, no bargains, no qualms; Lucy Black had taken it as an adult, or rather, McGonagall thought, as a scared eleven year old girl who knew not of disrespecting her elders.

As the door shut behind Miss Black, McGonagall stood to speak briefly with the Headmaster. He could surely explain the reasoning behind Miss Black's denial at having any cousin at Hogwarts, where in fact she had four of them currently residing in that same castle.

Walking briskly to the statue of the gargoyle, McGonagall muttered the password, "Sugar Quills." The gargoyle leapt quickly from its perch, revealing a spiralling staircase leading into a dark upper chasm which McGonagall quickly ascended. The antechamber that awaited her had a warm sweet smell to it, like hot chocolate or caramelized sugar, that encompassed the entire surface area of the foyer.

From the opposite side of the room, large double doors stood closed and Minerva McGonagall had not enough gall to simply intrude upon the Headmasters time without prior notice. "Enter," an aged voice called from the other side, seeming to know well of McGonagall's presence far before she had even rasped on his door.

Minerva walked through the open doors, standing in front of the desk where Albus Dumbledore sat, pouring over his beaten, battered copy of _Beadle the Bard_. "Albus," she called to him, making the old man look up at her.

"I take you have spoken with young Miss Black?" Dumbledore asked, a grin shadowed by the girth of his facial hair, yet one of those smiles that can easily be heard.

"She is under the impression that she has no next of kin, specifically cousins," she replied, getting quickly to the purpose of her visit.

Dumbledore folded the page of his book, placing it beside him. He leaned against his desk, folding his hands as he studied her calmly. "And what is the trouble with Lucy Black being under that impression?" he asked.

McGonagall regarded him with an astonished look, opening and closing her mouth in an attempt to argue her own feelings yet incapable of articulating what she thought she wanted to say. But there really was nothing wrong with not knowing about the existence of one's own relatives, it happens all the time.

"No, I cannot say there is," she conceded, despite a feeling of unrest about that case, Minerva knew well that Dumbledore was right, as he had always been.

Dumbledore sighed, "I know you feel that this should not be the case and that Miss Black should know more about the family she has been born into, but we, as mentors, have no right to interfere with domestic affairs." He regarded her quite closely, reading the continuously growing sceptical look upon her face.

"Her father, Lucien Black, you remember him I take?"

"How can I forget? That young man had absolute control of Slytherin ever since he arrived at the school barely the age of eleven." Minerva remembered quite clearly, as though it had only been yesterday, the perpetually stoic young boy who held enough silent charisma that led to the majority of the student body to follow him.

Dumbledore laughed at this anecdote, mind drifting back to his own years heading the school while Lucien Black was still there. "Lucien is the one who chose never to reveal to Lucy who she is in the household of Black."

McGonagall looked aghast, gaping at Dumbledore like a fish. "Why ever so? He was a proud Black if I remember him correctly," she retorted.

"Sit." Dumbledore motioned to a seat, the armchair pulling itself to him with some unseen force. McGonagall did as he asked, not pressing as she waited for the rest of his tale.

"At this point, it's safe to reveal this secret…_blemish_ on the Ancient House of Black," he began, "Lucien Black had always been, since the time of his birth, a loyal believer in the purity of blood.

Once his father, the high patriarch, had died when he was on his seventh year, it became Lucien's responsibility to become the successor of his father's position. Considering his impeccable abilities with magic and his heart formed purely from the Black ideals, there were no qualms in the choice of the high patriarch.

Succeeding a few years following his graduation, many of the family wondered who Lucien Black would choose to marry and, being one for entrances, he arrived at the Black estate with a woman."

"A Pureblood, no doubt," McGonagall interjected, a small amused smile placed on her face.

Dumbledore shook his head, "a Muggle."

"A muggle?" McGonagall repeated. Her mind was thrown back down to earth, the news being an absurd turn in what she had always believed Lucien Black's life would have been, "would he not have been shunned by that choice?"

"Quite accurate, I'm afraid. Be his choice had been done for love or for more personal needs; he had brought a Muggle to the Black estate and announced his marriage to her. This, of course, did not bode well with the family which led to many fights and duels, ending in the disowning of Lucien Black from the Black family," Dumbledore explained once again.

"And where does Lucy fit in all of this?" she continued to ask, becoming more intrigued with this large tale.

"This shame to the name of Black has been kept a secret for many years, and in his want to suture his new family from any connection to the Blacks, he made it a decision to not reveal to Lucy their existence. He has put of the charade that he and his wife were only children of only children, thus making her believe that she had no such things as cousins."

"What of his name then? Why did he retain the name of Black if he had wanted to separate himself from the family?"

"That, Minerva, is part of the mystery that is Lucien Black," he replied, chuckling a bit as though it was just a mere jest or a quick slight of the hand.

Minerva sighed in exasperation, "that family is one secret after another."

Dumbledore laughed once again, "a pureblood family is never anything but one secret after another. That is what they are founded on after all."

Minerva straightened and leaned a bit closer to Dumbledore, "be that as it may, my question remains the same, why would he not tell Lucy of all this?"

Dumbledore turned his seat to the window outside, seeing a few students walk to and from around the expanse of the school. He breathed in deeply and clasped his hands in front of him.

"It could have been a number of things. Fear she would try to contact them, fear that she would want to learn more of them, fear that she could become like one of them, but in truth, Minerva, the answer is yet another secret that only Lucien Black can answer."

Minerva sighed and leaned back on her seat, studying the pensive look on the aging Headmaster's face. In one aspect, she could understand the drama that seemed to plague pureblood families like that, but in another, the deeper reasoning seemed to be incomprehensible to her.

"Lucien Black will arrive this afternoon to speak with his daughter, please bring her here once the clock strikes two. Tell her, her father would be here to see her. It could bring up her morale after such a winded night."

Minerva gave a tight-lipped nod and moved out of the Headmaster's office, if it was one thing she couldn't stand, it were these elitist pureblood families who aim to maintain their pureblood status to the point of disowning family.

It was unfair for Lucy Black not to know of her family, but Minerva could do no more beyond her better judgement. She was, after all, bound to the orders of the Headmaster had it not been for that, she would be most willing to elaborate with Lucy the workings of the Black family as far as she knew.

But the question would be, would Lucy even listen to her? "If that girl is anything like her father, the only person to get through to her is her father," she muttered, entering the classroom as her students awaited her arrival.

At two o'clock sharp, a familiar crack was heard in the Headmaster's office, signalling the arrival of a guest in the school. It would take them a few minutes to arrive at his office, usually, but with long strides like that of Lucien Black's, a few minutes would amount to three.

Dumbledore sat back on his chair, smoking bubbles from a hand-carved wooden pipe that he had gotten from a friend stationed in the Near East. It was a strange little thing that gave out bubble instead of the usual gray fog that would rise from the ordinary Muggle pipes.

"Headmaster," a baritone voice echoed in the cosy little office, bringing the attention of the former Headmasters and Headmistresses of Hogwarts to attention.

Philleus Nigelus Black stared with inquisitive eyes as he observed the fallen patriarch of the Ancient House of Black, Lucien Black would have been the ideal poster child of a pureblood family, he thought.

Thick, long hair contrasting his strong glowing features, he was far from pale, yet not enough to call him tan or burnt, but he had this aura about him that made his structure emanate a light of some sort. Standing at an altitude of six foot seven with an imposing body mass, he was a daunting figure to any that would meet him.

But even this did not faze the old Headmaster, who knew all too well of the true Lucien Black under all that self-imposed discipline. "Lucien," he greet, placing the pipe down on the table, "I remember quite fondly when you were sent here during your days at Hogwarts."

Lucien Black gave a small inkling of a smile. "All for false charges, Headmaster, not once had I ever lay a finger on my fellow student."

Dumbledore laughed at that remark, "I recall that you did hex a certain Mr. Le Strange once."

Lucien Black just smirked widely, "all too uphold the honour of my House. It did us no good to have one of our own cursing at a defenceless Hufflepuff. He was a disgrace."

"Such House pride you had, Lucien. I'm quite surprised that Lucy had been sorted to Gryffindor," the Headmaster began to trail on.

"She takes it from her mother, had her mother gone to Hogwarts," he replied, not wanting to say more to the curious Headmaster.

Dumbledore nodded and sat up on his seat, "Lucy will be here in a moment, Minerva has just excused her from the last minutes of her class."

Lucien nodded and sat on an arm chair, clasping his hands as he stared up at the blankness of the wall. He had much to say to Lucy and even more to explain, he had hoped never to reveal to her of his former family, but unfortunately, his family had the opportunity to spawn out more pureblood elitists.

Dumbledore looked to his former student, studying his complacent face as he was pulled into his own mind. There will always be things he would never understand of Lucien Black, partly because of his secretive nature, the other because of his lone-wolf like attitude.

The Headmaster assumed that by having a family, he would separate himself from the boy he was, but sometimes, he supposed, it was all just wishful thinking.

"Lucien," the Headmaster spoke again, "it has come to my attention that Lucy has used a spell far beyond the capabilities of a First Year Student who has just arrived at Hogwarts."

Lucien looked to the Headmaster, his raven eyes inviting him to continue with his inquiry. The Headmaster looked back, feeling no fear as the eyes of a patriarchal Black continued to gaze upon him, "she used 'Stupefy' on young Mister Black and it has only been the start of her regular classes."

Lucien Black breathed in deeply, thinking how he would answer such a question, but it was Dumbledore he was speaking too, rarely would the man ever divulge underage wizardry to the likes of the Ministry. "I have been teaching her magic since she had first begun to speak fluently," he answered truthfully, finding no fear anymore from the discovery. What was the worst the Ministry could do to him after all?

The Headmaster nodded, "and if I may be so bold, what was your reasoning for arming your daughter so early?"

The man gave a sarcastic chuckle, a deep reverberating sound that could chill the bones of any regular wizard. "You know as much as I the dangers that Luciana would face. It was only practical to teach her ways to defend herself if necessary," he replied.

"And did that include the Unforgivable Spells?"

Lucien said nothing, wondering if he was so predictable that the old man knew that he would teach his own child the horrors of the Unforgivables at such an early age, as well as, recalling that fateful day when he did ask her to cast a few on unsuspecting insects.

"She never could do the Killing Curse," he muttered, knowing well enough that the old man's hearing was younger than his body.

"Could, Lucien? Or is it would?" the Headmaster cheekily asked.

"There is more of a Gryffindor in her than a Slytherin," Lucien answered.

"It's never a matter of house, Lucien, you should understand that by now," the Headmaster chuckled, "there is more good in her than she would let show."

Lucien Black thought deeply about the Headmaster's words. He was right of course, as he always is. Luciana had been the good in him that he had forgotten long ago and replaced with the staid persona that he had developed.

"Well, we shall chat some more at another time I suppose. Lucy and Minerva are here."

The doors to the office opened, the tall woman gliding in gracefully followed by the female miniature of Lucien Black. Lucien straightened in his seat as his daughter marched to the head of the table. She understood why she was there; it would be another lecture she would not forget so easily, she supposed.

"Father, Headmaster," she greet curtly, nodding at the two men in the room. Lucy stood with her hands behind her, feet slightly apart, and with a poker-faced stare etched on her features.

"I take you understand why you are here, Lucy," the Headmaster began.

"Yes, Headmaster," she replied, not daring to look at the possible angry stare that her Father would be giving her.

"It is a serious matter when one has hurt a fellow student, and no exceptions would be given whether you are new or not," he continued, "would you like to give your account of the matter, Lucy?"

Lucy thought for a moment, wondering if it was best to try and defend her side in this losing battle. She had hurt him, though slightly, and she knew that the consequences would not be lessened even if she had chosen to say her side.

But her Father spoke for her, either way. "Tell your side, Luciana."

Lucy nodded in compliance, "Sirius Black spoke ill-words towards me and my family. It riled me, so I did not let it go," she replied briefly.

"What did he say, Lucy?" the Headmaster asked, though sensing that she did not wish to tell what concisely occurred that night in the Common Room.

Lucy breathed in deeply, feeling her Father's impatience, "what he had called me is trivial, yet he chose to call my Father a blood-traitor and my Mother a muggle whore." Deep inside, her blood boiled as she recalled the sneer and jeers erupting from Sirius Black. He was in no position to judge her Father's life-choices as he did, even if he could have possibly lied to his own daughter of his life prior to the one she knew of.

"And what did he call you?"

"A Mudblood surmounting to nothing more than a Muggle whore."

"And you took no insult in this, but instead in the words spoken against your family?"

"My family is more important," she replied honestly, though softer than how she had spoken moments before. Lucy could still feel her Father's eyes on her, a deeper sense of his own anger emanating towards where she stood.

Dumbledore sighed in response, "I cannot say that you were justified in your actions that night, but Sirius Black had overstepped his boundaries in the matter and he shall be dealt with justly. Now, Lucy, your Father has arrived at Hogwarts because he wishes to speak with you personally of this matter. Lucien."

Lucien studied his daughter, refusing to look at him, to see how his eyes shone when he was feeling strong emotions. In this case it was anger, but he didn't know if she knew that. Such an innocent thing she was, he thought, a trait that never seemed to have disappeared from her even as a child.

"Headmaster, Minerva, may I ask to speak to Luciana alone?" Lucien asked, getting off the seat he was planted on quite heavily.

"Of course, would my private study suffice?" Dumbledore asked, waving a hand as a bookshelf disapparated to reveal an adjoining room.

Lucien marched into the smaller extension, followed respectfully by his stoic daughter. There was no space for white lies and games anymore.

The bookshelves returned to where they were and Dumbledore sat in his office with Minerva. The Transfigurations sat on the chair abandoned by Lucien Black, wondering to herself what that man would do to his daughter.

"He would not hurt her, if that is what you're thinking," Dumbledore answered, "Lucien Black is a short-tempered man but never a violent one."

Minerva just nodded dumbly, waiting patiently as father and daughter had a talk in private so close to where they were yet farther than what Minerva wished for them to be.

Lucien nodded to an empty arm chair, Lucy following his orders as she sat herself down. She knew what was coming to her, a tongue-lashing like no other. She had promised not to cause trouble in school before she had left home, and on her third day, she broke that promise completely.

"I had hoped to avoid revealing to you the shame of my past, Lucy," Lucien spoke, his voice softening as he looked down at the daughter that sat before him. Lucy did not speak, just listened as her expectations shifted to another degree.

"Sirius Black is your cousin, as many must have said to you, and in my understanding, two others here in Hogwarts are also kin of ours. But what I would like to know first is what Sirius Black said to you."

"He said you were a patriarch of the Black family; a blood-traitor because you had married a Muggle and was therefore disowned by the family. Is that true, Father?"

Lucien sighed, seating himself on the chair opposite his daughter. He clasped his hands together, looking less and less like who he was to the public. He was becoming the man that Lucy used to see as a child, before the impending chaos of the Wizarding world.

He gave her what smile he could, dragging a hand on his daughter's head. "What that young man says is true. I had been the patriarch of the Black family and I had been disowned for marrying your mother. But you must understand that I hid all this from you for a reason."

Lucy nodded dumbly, waiting for her father to continue with his speech.

"I had hoped you would not meet any of the remaining Blacks in your time here at Hogwarts. It would not be a conducive environment for you to grow up surrounded by the likes of them. They are heartless fiends who thrive on Pureblood elitism and wizarding purity. They had frowned upon my binding to your mother, therefore I hid you from their prying eyes."

"You wonder why I had trained you so harshly as a child, they are partly the reason for it. They will want to hurt you, Lucy, to break you to get to me. But you should not let them, do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Father."

"You are not like them, so do not let them destroy you like how Sirius Black had done the night before. He is an unhappy child raised by the likes of my sister and one I thought would not be present while you reside in Gryffindor."

"Yes, Father."

"Understand that there is a reason for my lies. But many things will still remain unknown to you. You are still far too young to understand the deeper trenches in the history of the Black family."

Lucy stared at her Father, her questions building up inside of her so quickly that even her Father's Legillimency could not comprehend sane speech at the rush of ideas. But she knew she couldn't ask them now, her Father was one to tell when he had deemed it appropriate and at that early stage, she understood that she was not ready, just like what her Father had said.

"Will you tell me later on?" she asked, hope slipping through her tone in a whisper.

"One day," he replied, giving one of his rare smiles once again.

She did have a chance to hope, at least.


End file.
